Entirely New Directions
by imagleekbitch
Summary: Kurt finds out that revenge is sweet but paranoia isn't. Puck starts feeling some things he's never felt before. Emotions aren't the Puckster's strong point. Both go through terrifying changes. Rated M for very strong language and eventual Kurt/Puck slash
1. Shit List

******Disclaimer: As much as I wish I owned Glee so that I could make Kurt and Puck get it on, sadly, I don't.**

******A/N: This is my first Glee fic. I'm going to take some liberties and change some things around. For example, Burt and Carole are going to be dating, but Finn and his mom will not move in with the Hummel's. Just a heads up; it's rated M for things that will happen later on. There will be slash, so if you don't like, don't read. There is also be some pretty strong language and some offensive names like 'fag'. **

**I really hope you like it! :)**

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_When I get mad  
And I get pissed  
I grab my pen  
And I write out a list  
Of all the people  
That won't be missed  
You've made my shitlist_

"Shitlist" by L7

* * *

"You don't honestly expect me to drink that, do you? Because if the answer is yes, then you are sadly mistaken and more than a little delusional." Kurt Hummel looked back at the sheet music that was in his hands, still trying to comprehend how in the world Rachel had managed, once again, to snag the solo.

But Noah Puckerman didn't like being rejected.

"Just drink the damn slushie, will you?" Puck growled, shoving a large, grape-flavored drink dangerously close Kurt's face, making him flinch back. The idea of another slushie-facial from Puck terrified him. He didn't need anything to hurt his delicate skin.

"And what, may I ask, did you do to it?" Kurt asked, regaining his composure. " I'm not stupid, Puck. If anything, I like to believe my intelligence level is many times above yours. So why do want me to drink this slushie so badly?"

Puck, who seemed to be getting more and more frustrated, brought a hand to his mohawk and pulled at the short hair. He glanced around to make sure that nobody would see him sitting next to the fag and think he was going soft and then sat down in the music room, his back to the door.

"Look gay boy –"

"Really? Gay boy? That's the best you can come up with?" Kurt threw back in Puck's face. He knew he was gay, he didn't need to be constantly reminded of it by big headed jocks like Noah Puckerman. He wasn't very likely to forget it.

"Shut up and listen. I'd much rather take this slushie and pour it over your fucking head, but Quinn said that if I want to have anything to do with the baby – _our _baby – I had to make an effort to show her how I was 'changing' or being nice or some shit like that. So just take the slushie and fucking enjoy the fact that I didn't throw it on you," Puck finished slamming the cup down.

A sly smile spread over the young countertenor's face as he understood the situation. In his mind, Quinn may now be a completely horrible person who deserved no sympathy because of the way she shredded Finn's heart, and he may not like the blonde, but the way Kurt disliked Quinn didn't even _compare _to the way he hated the God-awful, probably mentally retarded barbarian sitting beside him right now. So Quinn wanted Puck to play nice? There was no way Kurt was going to miss out on this opportunity to get back at him for all the Hell he'd been put through by the football player in the past.

Dropping the smile, and hoping the jock hadn't noticed anything too suspicious, Kurt put on a look of superiority and innocence. "Language, Neanderthal, language. That may be your primal instinct, but some of us are a little more evolved."

Kurt just had to stall for a few minutes until the final bell rang. He knew Quinn would show up to get her school bag that she wasn't able to lug around all day because of the baby. Then he could finally get back a little bit of his dignity from the self-proclaimed 'stud' named Noah Puckerman. He had a feeling that people were right when they said that revenge was a dish best served _cold._

"So tell me Puck. How does one such as yourself go from being such an insufferable jock to being as whipped as a cart horse?" He could tell his prodding was already starting to get to Puck. The angry vein bulging in his neck was visible and his entire face was turning a light pink.

The bell finally rang while Puck was saying, "Shut the hell up, Hummel."

Even though his fists were clenched, Kurt wasn't too worried. Quinn would be here any second. And he knew that Mohawk couldn't do anything to hurt him with Preggo Barbie around.

"Oooh, hit a nerve, did I? I was just pointing out the obvious. I never thought a cheerleader would be able to tame the wild _stud _that you've always claimed to be." As he said this, Kurt saw a floral dress and a head of blonde hair appear just outside the door, stopping to talk to Santana. Now was his chance to finally get back at Puck. He was feeling uncharacteristically brave right now.

"Seems to me like you're losing your touch."

He stood up, for once in his life taller than the mohawked boy. Before he even realized that he was doing it, he took the offered drink out of Pucks hands – "thanks for the slushie, _Puck_." – and was dropping it on the jerk who was still sitting.

Puck didn't even have time to understand what had happened. There was a sharp intake of breath followed by a slow and quiet "What the fuck…?" and then Kurt, being the diva that he was, warned Puck "You're on my Shit List," before turning and walking towards the blonde girl standing in the doorway to the music room.

"Oh, hello there, Quinn. Santana. Puck just offered me a slushie. One that actually wasn't thrown in my face. Isn't that just the _nicest _thing? He's such a _changed _person. But then he had an accident. Clumsy, isn't he?"

Kurt , who was being both overly friendly and extremely sarcastic, could tell that both Quinn and Santana were confused. Puck on the other hand just looked pissed. Obviously he now understood what had just gone down. He also realized that he couldn't do a single thing about it without appearing like the arrogant jerk that he was trying to prove to Quinn he wasn't. His fists were clenched and the look on his face made Kurt a little scared.

'_Now would probably be the time to get of here' _Kurt thought to himself. He didn't want to tempt fate too much. But he still couldn't help smarting off to Puck as he walked out of the music room.

"Ciao, Puck. Hope that slushie comes out alright."

Kurt had a little more swing in his narrow hips (that were currently sporting Hugo Boss dress pants) as he walked through the nearly empty halls and into the parking lot. The look on Puck's face… Well, that was just priceless. He doubted if anyone had ever pulled such a stunt with the star football player and gotten away without being beaten to a bloody pulp.

Starting up his baby, he plugged his iPod into the dock and was serenaded by one of his favorite songs from one of his favorite movies. He always felt that he would be a perfect fit for the Rocky Horror Picture Show. Kurt knew all the words and sang along, perfectly.

_I was feeling done in, couldn't win_  
_I'd only ever kissed before._  
_I thought there's no use getting into heavy petting_  
_It only leads to trouble and seat wetting..._

The song went on, Susan Sarandon singing to the hunky blonde. Just as he was pulling up to his house, he belted out the final stanza of the song.

_Touch-a, touch-a, touch-a, touch me, I wanna be dirty!_  
_Thrill me, chill me, fulfil me,_  
_Creature of the night!_

That song just spoke to him. Sometimes when he was sitting in his room alone, he liked to go over that scene from the movie in his head. Only, he was playing the part of Janet and Finn, of course, was the gorgeous Rocky. He'd gotten extremely good at picturing Finn in Rocky's skimpy gold attire. And he enjoyed it quite a lot.

Still on his Rocky Horror/Finn induced high, Kurt let himself into his house and sashayed down the stairs into his basement bedroom.

Today had ended pretty perfectly. Noah Puckerman covered in grape slushie… Kurt sat on his bed, smiling and making sure not to wrinkle his Armani top.

Noah Puckerman… Covered in grape slushie… Slowly, his smile began to fade away.

He had dropped a slushie on Puck… The guy who thought it was funny to see Kurt thrown into a dumpster every morning before school.

The guy who had, for as long as Kurt had lived in Lima, made his life a living Hell.

Kurt's jaw slowly dropped open.

"Oh. My. God."

Suddenly, the blissful feelings from before were gone and the confidence that Kurt had gained when seeing Puck's pants stained purple was rapidly deteriorating.

There were definitely going to be consequences for the stunt he had pulled, Quinn or no Quinn. Kurt was starting to worry now which was causing him to sweat in very uncomfortable places; something that was not good for his beautiful pores.

But Kurt couldn't even force himself to rush to his bathroom to stop the abomination that could ruin his skin. There was only one thing he could think of to do. He reached under his bed and pulled out some of the lilac stationary he kept for when he needed to brainstorm ideas for Glee Club and started to write down his last will and testament.

Because Kurt Hummel was very sure he was not going to make it through tomorrow alive.

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**A/N: What'd ya think? The song that Kurt sang was 'Touch-A, Touch-A, Touch Me' from Rocky Horror Picture Show. I figured our virginal Kurt would appreciate this song ;)**


	2. Trouble Sleeping

**Disclaimer: Disclaimers make me sad. They make me think about how I will never own Glee. And then depression settles in. And then I have to make Kurt and Puck do dispicable things together to make me happy. So the disclaimer can suck it when it doesn't like Puckurt sexytime later on!**

**A/N: Thank you to everyone who left a review for the first chapter! They make my tummy all fluttery! Anyway, here's chapter two, I hope you like it! I didn't think I was going to update so soon, but I couldn't stop myself. I'm gonna try to hold out longer next time! Lol**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

_It's late and I'm feeling so tired.  
Having trouble sleeping  
This constant compromise between thinking and breathing  
Could it be I'm suffering because I'll never give in?_

"Trouble Sleeping" by Corinne Bailey Rae

* * *

Noah Puckerman's upstairs bedroom was a fixer upper. That being said, it wasn't anything to sneeze at. He had a comfortable double bed on the wall beside the door that he was currently laying on, a dresser in the corner and a decently sized closet. His TV stand held a 20 inch screen with an X-box next to it. He knew he had a lot of things that others didn't have. He also knew he took advantage of that. He took advantage of a lot of things. Things that were important to him…

_The baby._ That's what was important to Puck. He knew that Quinn wanted to put her up for adoption, but he wanted to be there when she was born. He had to convince her to let him. It was the most important thing for him right now.

Puck could distinctly remember the day his dad had walked out. He had been 10 – a prime age to begin having daddy issues for the rest of your life – and when he had come home from school, his mom was asleep on the couch with a half empty bottle of Jose Cuervo next to her and a red, splotchy face.

His father hadn't even said goodbye. Not to him, not to his mother, and not to his sister – not that she remembered, being only 3 years old at the time. Instead, he'd left a note. The note hadn't held anything comforting, or fatherly; it barely held anything. It was cold and heartless like his worthless dad had been. Puck had the note memorized because he'd read it so much as a kid.

_I'm done with this. Don't wait up._

For a while, Puck was convinced that it was a joke. Surely his father, his _daddy,_ couldn't have left? But a day went by, a week, months passing before he finally came to terms with the fact that his dad wasn't coming back.

It had messed him up _bad._ He went from being a pretty decent kid in school to the ultimate asshole. Yeah, he knew he was a jerk. But he'd rather be a first class jerk with incredible guns then ever get attached to someone and risk being hurt like he was when his father left.

Puck didn't want his daughter growing up and thinking that her father was anything like his had been. But as far as he could see, he was in a hopeless situation. Quinn was already set on giving the baby up and as of right now,_ she_ didn't want anything to do with the baby in the future, and she definitely didn't want him to be involved. The way she saw it, he was just some punk who had gotten her pregnant.

And sure, he would be lying if he said he wanted to spend the rest of his life with Quinn. She was a high maintenance, pain in the ass. Albeit, a _hot_ pain in the ass, but a pain in the ass nonetheless.

But he would do it.

He would put a ring on that finger, get a job, and _learn_ to love the life he had, because – and he would never admit this out loud for fear of losing his man card – he was already head-over-heels in love with that baby girl inside Quinn Fabray's stomach.

At that moment, Puck knew that he would do anything to have even a tiny part in his daughter's life, even if that meant following her stupid rules about being a better person.

Suddenly, the jock's thoughts took a more violent turn. That queer Kurt Hummel. Hummel was already making it extremely difficult to keep that promise. Throwing slushies was for popular people only, who did that tiny geek think he was, dropping a grape one all over his lap? And where had he gotten the nerve? This was the loser who got thrown in dumpsters every day, and never fought back. He may have always crawled out with a more superior look on his face than he had before being thrown in the trash, but Hummel knew it was his place to be picked on by the jocks.

Puck was pissed off that this loser thought he was cool enough to dump a slushie on The Man of McKinley High. But more than that, he was totally weirded out. It just wasn't _right _for people, especially Hummel, to strike back. Come on, the dude was practically a girl. If he _had _been a girl, Puck might have found the 'Don't Mess With Me Cause I'm a Bitch' attitude fucking hot. And he would have promptly banged the shit out of said girl.

Immediately, Puck wanted to kick his own ass. His mind started screaming at him.

'_Dude, what the fuck, Hummel has a dick! The word 'hot' should never be associated with a dick, unless you're talkin' about Puck Jr.!' _

Good fucking Lord, he was _not _gay, or anywhere near it. He liked boobs. No, scratch that, he _loved_ boobs. He'd banged every girl at school and gotten one pregnant for Christ's sake. And his mind just needed to shut the fuck up, because he did _not_ need to _convince_ himself that he was straight, or whatever the hell his brain was doing right now.

Because Puck was busy fighting with himself in his head, he didn't hear the light footsteps coming towards his room and he didn't have time to wipe off the pained and angry look on his face before Quinn quietly opened the door.

He jumped when he heard her soft voice, "Hey Noah, you're mom said that dinner will be ready in five."

Puck didn't waste time in lashing out at her, "Good God, woman, don't you know how to knock? I could have been jacking off or something."

_Oh God. You just mentioned jacking off in front of the girl who's carrying your child after you were thinking about the gayest faggot ever to walk the halls of McKinley. Something is definitely fucking wrong with you._

A confused look fluttered across Quinn's face as she took in the mangled expression on Puck's face. What could be making him so uncomfortable?

"Noah…" She walked over and sat lightly on the side of his bed, "Is there something wrong?" At this, she placed a delicate hand on top of Puck's. He reacted like she'd punched him and jerked his hand back and away from Quinn. He hadn't meant to do it. He was just jumpy. He felt like he actually had been caught in the act of masturbating… to Hummel.

_Oh God._

Quinn abruptly stood up and crossed her arms, in full on hormonal bitch mode.

"Look, _Puck._ I'm living here because it's your responsibility as the biological father of this baby to help me. But that does not mean that I have to put up with your crap!" She turned to storm out of the room, but Puck stopped her, his emotions flipped upside down. He had one thing that he really wanted to talk about.

"Quinn?" Even to himself, he sounded like a broken child. "What are we gonna do about our baby?" Puck felt like a prick the moment he said it. Quinn's face slammed shut and suddenly held no emotion. She turned back around so she stood, facing him, in the door frame.

"You _know _what I'm going to do with my baby," she growled.

"What do you mean, _your _baby?" Puck was suddenly pissed off again and he didn't feel bad anymore. Here he was doing everything he possibly could to help Quinn and the baby. He had let her stay at his house. He was even working a part time job at a grocery store to raise money to pay for doctor bills. That baby was definitely his, too. "Quinn, that baby is _ours._ You can't expect me to not have an opinion about what happens to her!"

Quinn's hard face cracked and Puck could see silent tears running down her it. She was basically whispering when she spoke next, "Yes. I can. Please, Puck, just back off."

At that, she turned and walked away, leaving the door open.

Puck couldn't decide whether he felt pity towards Quinn for what she was going through right now or anger because she didn't care that he was also going through this same situation. He cared about this baby just as much as she did, if not more.

Frustrated, he brought his hand to his mohawk and pulled at the hair, as was his habit when he was upset. He _needed _a say in this chapter of his life. He'd never forgive himself if he just let that baby girl pass him by.

Since his mind was so jumbled up with thoughts, he didn't notice when they turned right back to the one subject he didn't want to think about. It was imperceptible. One second he was thinking of his baby – Beth, he'd like to name her if he ever had the chance – and the next his thoughts were on none other than Kurt Hummel. Puck was still pissed as hell that Hummel'd intentionally dropped a slushie in his lap, but he couldn't bring himself to hate Kurt with the conviction he'd held earlier. This baby was changing everything about him, from his actions to his thoughts. And if thinking about Hummel in an almost nice way was going to be the outcome, he wasn't sure he liked it.

_Why? Why are you still thinking of Hummel?_

Puck determined in that instant that he _definitely _needed to get laid. It had been at least two weeks since he'd gotten up that red Cheerios skirt of Santana's. Maybe that's why his brain was going soft. He was a stud, he thrived off of sex.

Sex with _women._

Because _he was not gay._

Or thinking of Kurt Hummel right now.

Puck quickly pulled out his phone and texted Santana – **Hey baby, what kinda panties are you wearing?** – because he didn't want to think about how that last one was a lie.

* * *

Puck didn't even have it in him to look menacing at all the losers that were passing him in the halls that morning at school. He'd been up way too late thinking and not being satisfied with Santana's sexts. He'd been too distracted to focus on what she was even saying, and couldn't remember anything that he'd said back. (Even though he hadn't gotten off, he was convinced that Santana had. Distracted or not, Puck knew how to make a woman happy.) All that distraction and disappointment had led to a fucking tired Noah Puckerman. So instead of going to his first period class, he decided that his time would be better spent sleeping in the nurse's office.

"Hey Mrs. Freeman, I have a really bad headache, do you think it'd be alright if I stay in here for a while?" He turned on his studly charm for the older lady as he walked through the door to the nurse's office. Of course, he had a long standing relationship with the nurse and she was fully aware that he wasn't actually sick. Puck knew that she let him get away with it because he was so damn hot. He had that effect on older women. Even ones as old as Freeman.

It came as no surprise to Puck when the woman replied, "Sure sweetie, do you need some Tylenol?" Puck shook his head no with a smile on his face and took his place on the paper-covered bed. He _really_ needed this nap. Maybe it would clear his head and he would finally stop thinking about Hummel. He closed his eyes…

When they opened, it was because he was screaming "What the FUCK!" He sat bolt upright and was faced with a horrified looking Mrs. Freeman.

He muttered a quick "Sorry, Mrs. F," and before he knew it, he ran out the door.

He had _not _just had a dream about Hummel.

Okay, so he had and it freaked the shit out of him. Kurt had been dancing to that Beyonce song – Single Women or some shit like that… but he hadn't been covered up by football pads in the dream. He was wearing some of those skinny pants that he always paraded around in. The ones that showed off his hot ass. Not that he'd _ever _noticed that, until that fucking dream.

And he didn't think that Hummel had a hot ass. His brain was just fucking with him because he was sleep deprived. He was sure as hell not going back to sleep though, at least not while he was at school. He didn't want anyone to know Hummel was anywhere near his dreams...

Puck spent the rest of the day actually trying to pay attention in his classes. He had no clue what the teachers were talking about. Microorganisms and the square root of pi were not things that the stud was going to need in his life, so he could never bring himself to worry about them. He just really needed something to distract him from dwelling on that fucking dream.

_Wow, you know you've reached an all time low when you're trying to distract yourself _with_ your damn school work instead of _from_ it. _

He was really dreading going to Glee that afternoon because that meant he'd have to be near to that queer. The one that wouldn't leave his thoughts alone. A part of him was still contemplating beating the hell out of the little punk for the slushie stunt he pulled yesterday, but all the other parts were screaming at him to stay away because of the way his mind seemed to be spazzing out recently. He didn't trust himself to stop before he killed the fag for making the Puckster have thoughts that were even remotely gay.

Puck totally wasn't ready when the final bell rang. He felt like he'd rather get tackled by 300 pound linemen all afternoon than have to face Hummel. But he didn't have football practice and he didn't want to skip Glee and give Quinn a reason to think he was irresponsible.

He drug his feet as walked down the hall to the music room, going as slow as he possibly could. He didn't care about being late. But eventually, and this came way too soon, he reached the room and took a deep breath, running his hand through his mohawk before stepping through the door frame.

"Nice of you to join us, Puck" Mr. Schuester said as the jock walked into the room with his best 'fuck-off' expression on his face. He took the seat farthest away from everyone else and looked up at the ceiling, trying – but failing – to ignore Mr. Schue.

"Now, as I was saying," Puck earned a pointed look from the teacher before he kept speaking, "I have a new assignment that I'm going to give you all tomorrow during class. I don't want to give too much away right now because I want it to be a surprise."

Puck was beginning to hear some of Mr. Schue's words slurred. Totally against his will, he was starting to doze off. Damn that fucking dream to Hell. He was so tired. He didn't know how much longer he'd be able to stay awake, but he had to try.

Schue kept talking, "I know that up until now, we've basically done only group songs, but I wanna try something a little different." To Puck's tired ears, he could tell that Schue sounded really excited about what he was about to give the kids. He couldn't bring himself to open his eyes fully, let alone act even a little bit excited. It'd probably be something lame anyway.

"Um, Will?" Even Puck had to look up when he heard the tiny voice of the school counselor, Miss Pillsbury. "Can I talk to you for a sec?" It was no secret that the red head had been lusting over the Glee club sponsor for a long time. And the way that Mr. Schuester was looking at her right then, he obviously had the hots for her too.

"Yeah! I mean, of course Emma." Schue said as Puck was thinking how totally whipped the teacher looked right now. "I'll be right back guys. Don't do anything stupid while I'm gone, please."

The moment he was gone, Puck shut his eyes again. He couldn't help it, his eyelids were too heavy to ignore. He could hear chairs moving and what sounded like the girls laughing and moving around. He wasn't surprised when he heard singing next. Going in and out of consciousness, he couldn't really place what song it was, but he thought that the voice behind the song sounded like… the black chick… He couldn't even remember her name, that's how tired he was.

_Come here, rude boy, boy; can you get it up?  
Come here rude boy, boy; is you big enough?  
Take it, take it baby, baby  
Take it, take it; love me, love me._

Puck heard the lyrics repeated and then Black Chick kept singing until she got back around to the chorus.

_Come here, rude boy, boy; can you get it up?  
Come here rude boy, boy; is you big enough?  
Take it, take it baby, baby  
Take it, take it; love me, love me_

But suddenly, Black Chick's voice wasn't Black Chick's anymore. Someone else had taken over. Half conscious Puck couldn't tell which girl it was, but he really liked her voice. A lot.

_Tonight I'ma give it to you harder  
Tonight I'ma turn your body out  
Relax; let me do it how I wanna  
If you got it I need it and I'ma put it down _

Damn, Puck was starting to get a little turned on. This song was sexy and so was the voice of whoever was singing it.

_Buckle up; I'ma give it to you stronger  
Hands up; we could go a little longer  
Tonight I'ma get a little crazy, get a little crazy, baby_

_Do you like it?_  
_Boy, I want, want, want what you want, want, want_  
_Give it to me, baby like boom, boom, boom_  
_What I want, want, want is what you want, want, want_  
_Nah nah-ah_

Semi-conscious Puck was really disappointed when Black Chick took over and started singing the chorus again. But a sleepy smile stretched across his face when the sexy voice started back up.

_I like the way you touch me there_  
_I like the way you pull my hair_

Puck was definitely into that kind of stuff.

_Babe, if I don't feel it I ain't faking, no, no_

His kinda woman…

_I like when you tell me 'kiss you there'  
I like when you tell me 'move it there'  
So giddy-up; time to get it up. _

Puck was definitely feeling 'up' at this point in time.

_You say you a rude boy: show me what you got now  
Come here right now_

_Take it, take it, baby, baby, take it, take it, love me, love me_

Puck was completely hard by the time Black Chick started singing the chorus again. Whoever's voice that was… Well, fucking wow. He was gonna need a major jerk off session when he got home and took a shower.

The song eventually came to an end and Puck heard someone enter the room, clapping. He heard Mr. Schue's voice, but his eyes stayed shut.

"Very good job, but I'm not sure that song was entirely appropriate for school. Nice singing by the way, Kurt. I really liked it."

Puck's eyes snapped open immediately. _No fucking way _Schue just said Kurt. His mind was playing tricks on him again. There was just no fucking way that the sexy voice from before had come from Hummel.

But when he looked to the front of the room at the group of girls… he realized, to his horror, there was also one guy standing with them. One guy who had a distinctly feminine voice that had, seconds ago, made Puck's dick hard.

_Fuck my life. _

And of course, everyone else went on talking like Puck hadn't just been punched in the fucking chest with the fact that he had actually gotten _hard from a dude_. He was flipping out.

Mercedes – Puck could remember her name now that he was fully awake and adrenaline was pulsing through his veins – was talking to Mr. Schuester.

"We were just having a little fun, Mr. Schue. We'll try to keep things a little more appropriate next time, won't we girls?" All the girls and Kurt laughed and then Kurt laced his arm through his best friend's.

It was all Puck could do not to run out of the music room without a backwards glance and drive home going 90. He was wide awake now and sitting with his arms crossed in what he hoped was a casual way over his crotch so nobody could see a bulge. The jock felt like everyone was staring at him, even though most people, himself included, were staring at the group of girls plus Hummel at the front. He was glad when Mr. Schuester started to speak, guaranteeing that the guys would be looking at him instead of at Puck.

"So what was I talking about before I left? Oh yeah, the new project! Well, let's just say, it's going to be very fun. And the Hat of Fate will be involved, so be ready! I don't really have much else to say for today, and I think I can safely say we got in enough singing," he smiled as he looked at the girls and Kurt still gathered around the piano.

"I guess if no one has anything they want to add, we can call it a day?"

Nothing had ever sounded so good to Puck. He wanted nothing more than to leave so he could stop unwillingly staring at Kurt fucking Hummel.

"Alright, I'll see you tomorrow, guys. Have a good day," Mr. Schue finally dismissed them and Puck was the first to stand up and get out of the room. He stopped once he got out the door. A few people passed him – Tina, Artie, Matt and Mike – before the person he was looking for came out.

"Hey, ready for a little Puck time?" He asked the Hispanic Cheerio as she walked past him. Puck had never felt so desperate and needed to bang a chick before he went totally crazy. Santana was just the girl he needed.

A flattered smile spread across her face. She secretly loved getting attention from Puck and being with him was always the best part of her day.

"Sure, baby, but are you sure you can handle this?" She playfully retorted back.

"I've always been able to in the past, haven't I? I think I can take it."

_Just shut the fuck up and agree to sleep with me already._ Puck was still completely freaking out about the Hummel incident and needed to take his mind off of it.

Finally, Santana agreed to go home with him. No one would be home and he could do anything he wanted to the girl's body to make her scream his name. That's all he needed. He just needed a good fuck and his mind would be back to normal. No more dreams, no more Hummel.

As they walked out the school doors and were heading to Puck's car, the jock took an opportunity to stare at Santana's butt that was peeking out beneath a red Cheerios skirt. She had a nice ass. Puck made himself think about running his hands over it and pulling her onto him. He also forced himself to think about how delicious she would taste if he went down on her. But it all sounded scripted to him.

And however long he stared at Santana's ass, Puck could not shake the unconscious thought in the back of his mind that kept telling him how much sexier than Santana's a certain ass had been while dancing around to Beyonce in a certain fucking dream.

_Oh God. _

* * *

**A/N: The song sung by Kurt and the rest of the girls was 'Rude Boy' by Rihanna. I love making Kurt sing sexy songs because he is sexy and he deserves it, damn it!**


	3. The Walk

**Disclaimer: Still don't own Glee. Still wish I did. **

**A/N: Thank you so much to RedRoseMisery for reviewing my second chapter! If I could give you a hug, know that I would! **

**So I really intended the third chapter to be a rather short one, but then I got writing and just couldn't stop myself so it ended being a lot longer than I thought it would be. So I've decided I'm splitting it into two chapters! OH the anticipation! **

**So I won't be doing a proper ending author's note 'til I post part 2 and the beginning of part two probably won't have a beginning one. But, as I figure, this one is long enough for both. I'll quit rambling now.**

**Enjoy :)**

* * *

_Inside out.  
Upside down, twisting beside myself.  
Stop that now.  
You're as close as it gets without touching me._

"The Walk" by Imogen Heap

* * *

Kurt honestly couldn't believe that he was still alive. There had been plenty of glares in his direction from the jock but Puck hadn't even made one threat to him because of the slushie accident. Well, not exactly the slushie 'accident'. It had been completely intentional. But in his defense, he had taken leave of his senses when it happened. Kurt wondered if a plea of temporary insanity would get Puck to let him off easy. Or if Puck was also going insane and that's why Kurt wasn't covered with blood and bruises right now.

Whatever the reason that Puck had decided not to kill Kurt, he was grateful. He didn't want any bruises on his pale, delicate skin that he would have to explain to his father. He still had to be cautious though; Kurt didn't put it past Puck to be luring him into a false sense of security before beating the crap out of him.

That afternoon, after the tense day at school wondering when Puck was going to bash his head into a locker, Kurt decided that it was time for some intense retail therapy. Or maybe a spontaneous trip to the spa, whichever Mercedes happened to be up for. Anything to take his mind off the slushie drama and onto the one thing he loved more than Finn: fashion.

An hour later, after he'd called his best friend, changed his outfit three times and perfected his hair, Kurt was ready to set out to the mall. He picked up Mercedes in his Navigator and promptly kissed both of her generous cheeks before she took over his iPod and put it on the R&B playlist he had specifically for her.

"Hell yeah! This is my jam!" The female diva called out when 'Crazy in Love' by Beyonce came on.

Kurt laughed at his companion; he was pretty sure that she said that about every song that didn't have a white person singing it – anything besides Darius Rucker, perhaps. The laughing soon stopped though, because he felt that he needed to tell Mercedes about how he had endangered his life by standing up to Noah Puckerman. That way if he _did_ die, someone would at least be able to go to the authorities.

But Mercedes knew her best friend, and it didn't take her long to notice that he looked like he was on crack because he was so skittish.

"So Hon, why exactly are we going shopping? You only ever bring your daddy's credit card –" she pointed to it sitting in a cup holder " – instead of the one he gave you when somethin' real bad happens and you need a bigger budget. So spill." She simply crossed her arms and stared Kurt down expectantly.

"I think I… Well, I _know_… I sort of slushied Noah Puckerman." His left hand detached itself from the steering wheel and flew to Kurt's mouth as if he'd said a cuss word in front of his grandma. Mercedes mouth just dropped open. Her eyes were wide and she looked at Kurt like he'd spoken in a different language.

"Say what, white boy?" Kurt rolled his eyes, but his annoyance with Mercedes pointing out the obvious didn't lessen the worried knot that had been in his stomach all day. If anything it wound tighter. His best friend's evident incredulity led him to believe that maybe his rash decision was even worse than he thought.

"I didn't think it through. I was so tired of him messing with me and calling me a fag! The opportunity just sort of presented itself and I couldn't pass it up."

The boy went on to describe the deal Quinn had apparently made Puck agree to and how he had been possessed by a spirit Hell-bent on revenge. By the time he was finished, his actions from the day before seemed not only irrational, but clinically insane. He was almost hyperventilating and his hands were sweaty and shaking on the wheel.

"Ohmygod, ohmygod, ohmygod. Puck's going to murder me in my sleep. He will hunt me down and cut my eyelids off so I'll have to watch as he burns my entire wardrobe and all my beautiful, expensive skincare products. And then he'll MURDER me! Ohmygod. That's why he didn't do it at school; he was waiting 'til I wouldn't expect it! OHMYGOD. I'm going to fucking die! I'm too young to die! I haven't even won a Tony yet!" He was hysterically screaming at this point, something that, by the look on her face, Mercedes did _not_ appreciate.

"Woah, calm down! I cannot deal with all this white people drama while I'm bein' screamed at! Pull over the car, Kurt, before you actually do kill us both!" The girl's loud voice demanded as she put an extra hand on the wheel so that Kurt would stop with his jerky swerves.

With a little bit of coaxing from Mercedes, ("PULL OVER THE DAMN CAR!") Kurt finally did as he was asked and pulled over to the shoulder of the highway. He was taking deep breaths and trying to calm down because he had a near phobia of being hysterical; it was very unbecoming and nobody could pull off that look. It was a sign of just how upset was that he broke through said phobia and embraced his inner crazy.

Once pulled over completely, Mercedes grabbed the tops of Kurt's arms and turned him around so that he was facing her, "Listen Kurt. You are being a drama queen again. Nobody is going to kill you. The worst Puck could do is punch you around a little bit –" Kurt groaned and sank back in the leather. _Not_ something he wanted to hear. "- and if he was going to do that, don't you think he would have done it today at school where all the other jocks could have laughed along with him?"

Ugh. He hated when Mercedes had a point.

"So stop being so over dramatic and drive us to the damn mall! You need something to take your mind off this mess." She released Kurt's shoulders and turned back around to face the front of the car, waiting on him to get himself together. It took well over five minutes for him to sort through his jumbled mess of a mind and start to see clearly.

Puck definitely would not kill Kurt. Maim and injure him, now that was a possibility, but he was certain that he still had time to live.

"Okay Mercedes, as much as I hate to admit it," Kurt took a deep breath; calming down was hard work, "you're right -"

"I always am."

"- so let's get to the mall."

The teens spent the next four hours going in and out of stores and buying the most outrageous clothes they could find. Kurt had done _a lot_ of damage on his daddy's credit card, but he knew that eventually Burt would forgive him; he always did.

* * *

The next morning started out pretty good for Kurt. He had new clothes to pick from to make his outfit totally fierce. When he stepped out of his car in his new navy blue skinny jeans, he managed to walk past the dumpster without being thrown in by Karofsky. And by the time he was at his locker, he hadn't had any Puck sightings.

_Thank you, Jesus. I don't need stress to ruin my pretty face._

Since his accidental breakdown last night, Kurt had forced himself to think only of things that made him happy; Finn, Mercedes, clothes, singing, fat-free, sugar-free, and reduced-calorie strawberry ice cream, organic hair care products and Finn. With those things planted firmly in his mind, he felt he was invincible. Only a couple times did he slip up when thinking about Finn and picture that brat Rachel hanging all over his man. In terrible clothing, no less. It was a double offense that warranted arrest and worked Kurt up just enough to remember Puck.

Nevertheless, the beginning of his day was definitely okay. Kurt entered the combination to his locker and did his usual morning hair check in the hanging mirror. He looked at himself smugly in the mirror; there were three things he really prided himself on and having the best hair at McKinley High was one of those things.

It was then that things started to turn incredibly sour.

Spanish class was first period. Kurt didn't know why this hadn't occurred to him earlier, but when he pulled the Spanish book assigned to him by Mr. Schuester out of his locker, it hit him like a truck that this was the one class period besides Glee Club he shared with Noah Puckerman. Most of the time, Puck didn't bother showing up to class, but Kurt didn't know if he wanted to risk finding out if today was one of those days.

It took him a very long time to decide if he was going to show up to Mr. Schue's class or not. The first bell had rung and Kurt estimated that he had about two minutes before he was late. If he walked quickly, he would be able to make it before class started. And he really didn't want to give that stupid jock Puck the satisfaction of knowing he'd scared him into skipping class. Kurt Hummel had more dignity than that.

Taking his Spanish book and closing the metal door, Kurt turned quickly and walked down the hall with his chin up, an eyebrow cocked and a sway in his hips. To any bystanders in the hall, he looked like the Queen of Bitchiness, a name he had worked many hard years to achieve. But in reality, the only thing that was keeping Kurt from sweating and being sick was the mantra that he was repeating over and over in his head:

_I am not going to die. I am not going to die. I am not going to die. Get beat up? Maybe. But I am not going to die._

The mantra was also got him through first period. When Kurt had walked in – with seconds to spare – he sat down in the front of the classroom on the far right because this was as far away from Puck as he could get. It didn't make any difference; all throughout the lesson Kurt could feel heated eyes drilling into the back of his head. At one point, Kurt had gathered up enough courage to peek over his shoulder and was so horrified when he made eye contact with the face of Noah Puckerman that it took several seconds to force himself to whip his head back around. Puck looked pissed and confused and terrified. That wasn't normal.

Kurt experienced an odd thing that felt like… pity? It was unacceptable! He would in no way feel sorry for Puck because he was an arrogant jerk. If anything, Kurt _wanted_ him to be miserable. At least, that's what he told himself.

Sympathy began coursing through Kurt without his permission. Puck was obviously going through some issues and a part of Kurt wanted to try and help him. But the larger, more sensible part of Kurt was still chanting _"I am not going to die" _just so that he wouldn't cower in fear.

The second and last time Kurt looked over his shoulder, his eyes held a question.

_What's wrong? _

He couldn't help it. No matter how hard he tried to be a total diva that didn't care, it was in his nature to be a nice person. He'd have to really work on that.

Puck responded with a look of his own. His eyes got wide and scared, though they still looked royally pissed off, and he pulled at the strip of hair on his head while turning away from Kurt for the first time since class had started. The bell rang soon after that, dismissing them from Mr. Schue's class and Puck literally ran out of the classroom leaving Kurt tremendously confused.

All he'd done was drop a slushie on Puck. Puck should be pounding him into the ground right now, not running away from him looking terrified. It was so bizarre. Kurt felt like he was in an episode of the Twilight Zone and even went so far as to pinch himself to test if he was truly awake. After all, why in the _world _would Noah _Puckerman _look so freaking scared when looking at Kurt Hummel? It just didn't make sense…

Kurt was broken out of his reverie and realized that he was the only student still in the classroom when the curly-haired Spanish teacher spoke to him, "Shake a leg, Kurt, you don't want to be late for class. I'll see you in Glee later."

So Kurt packed up all of his stuff and headed to his creative writing class.

He spent the rest of his classes completely checked out, mentally. Puck's strange demeanor in Spanish class really had Kurt tripping out. What was the deal? Was this a mind trick? If so, it was working. Kurt had never been this confused before.

**A/N: Opinions? **


	4. The Walk Pt 2

**A/N: I would just like to say thank you and I'm so grateful for the response my story has had so far! A special thanks to blueeyedchibi because they're review made me feel all fuzzy inside. Also to DisappearanceOfAdalia for giving me some things to think about!**

**Here's part 2 of Chapter 3!**

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* * *

_

It's not meant to be like this, not what I planned at all,  
I don't want to feel like this, Yeah,  
No it's not meant to be like this, it's just what I don't need,  
Why make me feel like this, it's definitely all your fault.

"The Walk" by Imogen Heap

* * *

By the time 7th period arrived and it was time for Glee, Kurt had come no closer to figuring out the riddle Puck had presented him with. Walking into the music room, he was more than a little scared, not knowing for sure if Puck was still going to assault him with hostile glares as he had in Spanish. But he walked in with his head held high, looking as much a diva as he ever had.

The small singer was initially planning to go and sit by Mercedes because he needed to dish to his BFF how weird and creepy Puck was being, but that plan was disrupted when Kurt spotted the mohawked teen sitting just feet behind his best friend. There was no way Kurt was sitting in range of being throttled, so he planted himself in the open seat next to Tina and gave Mercedes a '_we need to talk!'_ look so she knew that he wasn't dissing her.

Kurt rolled his eyes when Mercedes asked him with her facial expressions what was going on. She was so nosy! But he couldn't deny his girl anything, so the countertenor tired his best to be discreet and sort of twitched his eyes to the jock sitting behind her, hoping she'd get the point.

She didn't. _God, for someone so smart, she can be awfully slow sometimes!_

After several seconds of perfectly re-enacting a seizure, he got tired of jerking his head and gave a pointed look at Puck who was luckily staring at his hands in his lap. Kurt was caught off guard by the torn expression that was still plastered on Puck's face. He stared for a little bit longer than he should have…

The muscled teen could feel a pair of eyes looking at him and caught a pair of blue, almost grey, eyes as he brought his head up. Something foreign shot through Kurt and he snapped his entire body to the front of the room.

_Oh my God. Please don't start freaking out Kurt, don't start freaking out!_

The boy really hoped Mercedes had finally gotten the hint (if she hadn't, he needed to take her to a neurologist) because as of right now, he never wanted to think about, let alone look at, Noah Puckerman again. If he did, he might have a heart attack.

Kurt was saved from having another mental break down when Mr. Schuester walked into the music room and set his briefcase on the piano. He jumped right into what was on his mind.

"Okay, kids, it's time for your new assignment!" The teacher said with a grin on his face. He really was genuinely excited about this. Kurt didn't know if that was a good thing or a bad thing. He just hoped it didn't have anything to do with Rachel getting a solo – he might rip the badly dressed prima donna to shreds with his bare hands, blood ruining his cuticles be damned, if that were the case.

"You guys are going to be doing –" He paused for dramatic effect, " – duets!"

Kurt shot out of his chair when he heard a high pitched squeal behind him and when he turned around, he saw that the rest of the class had almost fallen out of their seats too. Rachel had screamed and was currently jumping up and down, clapping her hands.

_Oh God, shoot me in the face. Didn't she ever get tired of being nauseatingly annoying? _

Mercedes had a scowl on her face at the spazzy brunette still hopping around like a kid on a sugar rush. Kurt turned and gave his BFF an _"I agree" _eyebrow lift/eye roll. Rachel was honestly the only person who was able to make Kurt consider jumping off a cliff.

After a couple seconds, Mr. Schuester seemed to get a grip he began trying to talk over the dying squeals emanating from Rachel.

"I really want to hear what you guys can put together in partners. Now, I'll be gone for a while because I have to attend some conferences next week, so you guys will have a little extra time than I would normally give you. You will be performing in two weeks, on Thursday. You need to take this extra time to make the duets as perfect as they can get! Who knows, maybe we'll even use one for regionals!" Mr. Schuester took a breath before he continued to talk. The man still had a smile transfixed on his face.

"As always, I'm going to have you draw to see who your partners will be. Artie, if you want to come and draw first," Schue finished, holding out the black hat filled with names of Glee Club members.

Artie drew Brittany's name. Kurt stopped paying attention to the draw until it was Puck's turn and he couldn't _not_ pay attention. The troubled teen got up from behind Mercedes and walked to the front of the room with a distinct _'fuck you'_ look on his face He had his arms crossed over his body defensively and Kurt found himself wondering, once again what was wrong with him.

As Puck passed near to Kurt, everything seemed to start going in slow motion. Puck's hand slipped into the hat and his fingers wrapped around a slip of paper. Kurt could feel sweat starting to gather on his forehead. He crossed his fingers, wished, and prayed to God that his name would not be drawn by the jock. That would be the worst thing that could possibly happen to him.

The tanned hands of Puck slowly unfurled the strip of paper he read out the name on it.

"Finn."

Kurt hadn't even known that he'd been holding his breath when his lungs forced him to take a deep breath. Puck didn't look happy about his partner selection, but what Kurt was feeling was far beyond relief. It was with a skip in his step that he walked up to the piano (after he was sure Puck was sitting down so they would have no chance of contact) and stuck his hand in the hat. There were three names left in the hat that he had the chance to draw: Quinn, Rachel and Santana. Honestly, out of the three of those, Kurt didn't know which one would be worse, but he didn't care because none of them was Noah Puckerman. He would put up with Rachel's hideous skirts, Santana's skankiness and Quinn's pregnancy hormones just as long as he didn't have to be subjected to Puck's insane glares and freaky mood swings.

He dipped his pale, delicate hand into the hat was surprisingly okay with it when the slip of paper read _'Quinn'_. He offered a somewhat friendly – as friendly as he could manage for the girl who had ruined his crush's life – smile at the girl. After all, he was going to have to put aside his dislike for her if he was going to make this duet good enough to take to sectionals over Rachel's.

Mr. Schuester spoke, pointing out that Santana and Rachel were left and were therefore partners as Kurt pranced back to his seat; he still felt very happy that he hadn't been paired with Puck.

"So, now that you have your partners, get at it!" Mr. Schue finished enthusiastically. Kurt decided to make the first move and he walked over to the pregnant girl who, he noticed, looked fabulous in pastels. She was wearing a wonderful sky blue baby doll tee with cream colored capris and blue flats. The male fashionista had to admit that she probably dressed the better than everyone in the school, second only to him (though he would never tell Mercedes that). He may still not like her, but not many people could pull of the pale colors and this blondie could. Good for her.

"So Kurt," Quinn was the first one to speak when Kurt primly took a seat beside her. He noticed that she had a really hushed voice. It was so much different from when she was singing. Then, it was passionate and full of emotion.

"Look, I know you probably hate me."

_Well at least she isn't stupid._

"Why would I hate you, Quinn?" He coated his voice with sugar; it may sound kind of childish and bitchy, but Kurt was almost goading her on. He wanted her to admit what she had done and how wrong it had been.

"Kurt. No offense or anything, but everyone knows you're in love with Finn. And… Everyone also knows what I did to him," Quinn had the decency to look ashamed and she bit down on her lip, "I just don't want us being partners to be awkward or anything."

Kurt cocked his eyebrow and looked the blonde up and down. He could tell that it was making her uncomfortable. Good, then his goal was accomplished. Finally, he relented.

"I suppose I could learn to forgive you," Kurt said, sticking out his hand and putting a friendly half, though still superior, smile on his face. He didn't know why he hadn't tortured the girl a bit more. Maybe it was the way she pulled off pastels, or maybe it was just because, deep down, Kurt could tell that she was honestly a nice person who just happened to make a huge mistake. That mistake being the stupid jock, Puck.

Laugher overtook the girls face as she took Kurt's hand and shook it vigorously.

"Kurt, I think you and I could be friends."

Strange as it seemed to the teen boy who was madly in love with the boy she had hurt so badly, Kurt thought they could too.

* * *

_What the hell was wrong with his life?_ Puck wondered as he stood, leaning against his truck after Glee practice. Now, while he had to admit that he was embracing his inner-Jew and thanking God that Hummel hadn't been forced upon him as a partner, having drawn Finn's name wasn't much better. His ex-best friend still fucking hated him; that much was clear by the look Finn had given Puck after his name had been read. He'd literally looked like he was going to be sick.

Puck knew that what he'd done with Quinn was wrong and he admitted that Finn had every right to be angry with him. But he was angry at Puck for all the wrong reasons. The mohawked jock had wanted nothing more than to be able to tell the world that the baby was his and be able to take care of it. It was Quinn that had insisted the secret be kept a secret and lied to Finn, stringing him along. He felt like their friendship should have been able to overcome this. Chicks were a just a distraction, but bros were supposed to be forever.

Ugh! He didn't need this as an added stress to his life. Things were just piling up; Quinn and the baby, fucking Hummel who wouldn't get out of his head, and now he had to sing a duet with the dude who hated him most in this school. It just wasn't fair.

The entire day had been Hell for Puck. He'd tried his hardest to avoid Hummel. If he saw the small boy in the halls, his mind would deny that it was actually Hummel, just some nobody who looked like him. He'd been forced to go to Spanish class today because the Nurse was out sick. He'd sat in the back of the class room hoping that he wouldn't have a view of the boy. But then Hummel walked in wearing this outrageous outfit and it was almost like he was intentionally trying to mock the football player.

The emotions Puck had been feeling were ones that he wasn't used to. Puckzilla shouldn't be scared of anything. But he found that he wasn't just scared of Hummel, he was terrified of him. He was so lost and scared shitless because he really didn't know how to cope with how he was reacting to Hummel.

_What is happening to me?_ He'd wondered as he lay in bed the night before. He didn't know what the hell his problem was, he just wanted it to stop. It had taken him hours to get to sleep, and when his eyes finally closed, Kurt had started dancing across his eyelids. Santana and Quinn had also been in the dream, laughing at Puck as he did… well, some fucking crazy shit to Kurt Hummel.

_When is this going to stop? I can't keep on like this. I have to figure out a way to handle this. _

The day had only progressively gotten worse. Near the end of Spanish, Kurt had turned around and caught Puck staring at him.

_No, not staring, glaring_, he corrected himself. He was a badass, he did not _stare_ at other dudes.

God, he was so confused…

It had shaken up the jock even more when the small teen at the front of the class room had apparently sensed something was wrong and looked at him with pity. Shouldn't this little twig be scared shitless of what could happen to him? Hell yes he should!

But no. Hummel _felt sorry_ for Puck. Was his internal battle really showing through that easily? Oh, fucking hell, what if Hummel knew what was raging through his mohawked head?

Puck felt even more horrified. If there was one thing that would ruin his life forever and force the jock to never show his face again, it would be Kurt knowing that Puck, THE Puck, had been thinking of him shaking his ass for hours and hours on end.

The boy turned around and started banging his head against the glass of his truck window, as if trying to dispel the thoughts of Hummel flying through his mind. It didn't work.

Looking through both the windows to the beat up truck, Puck spotted Quinn walking with the fag to his fucking nice car. Of course fate had to torture him by making the star of his hideous dreams the duet partner of his house mate. She needed to hurry her ass up, because he needed to go home, shower, and contemplate drowning himself.

He kept watching and saw the two faces – one Hummel's and one Quinn's – laughing as Quinn waved goodbye over her shoulder and walking towards Puck's truck.

_About damn time._

Puck ripped open the driver's side door and stepped inside, putting the key in the ignition and turning it. The truck roared loudly to life and Puck wished that he could replace all the thoughts in his mind with that mind numbing sound coming from the engine.

Quinn still had traces of laughter on her face as she climbed in the truck and closed the door. Puck put the truck in reverse and then shot out of the parking lot, wanting to get as far away from Hummel as he possibly could.

The jock nearly jumped out of his skin when the laughing Quinn spoke. To her, absolutely nothing was wrong while the whole world was turning over on its axis for Puck. It wasn't fucking fair!

"So get this – Kurt totally doesn't hate me! I think we might actually become friends." As much as it warmed Puck to see Quinn smiling because he honestly cared for the girl – in a platonic way – he still had this insane, irrational fear of Hummel and hearing his name spoken so casually by his passenger had freaked him out. Quinn, however, plowed on ruthlessly, not even noticing that she wasn't getting a verbal response from Puck.

"I really don't know what we're going to sing since his voice is just as feminine as mine, but I think this is going to be a lot of fun."

That's when Quinn dropped the bomb on Puck.

"Oh yeah, remind me to ask your mom if it's alright that Kurt comes over to the house so we can come up with a song and practice!"

For the first time all day, Puck's mind was completely blank. He couldn't process what the blonde had just said. Something about Hummel and his house?

Appearantly Puck look as lost as he felt because he felt a warm hand on his arm and heard the girl ask, "Puck, is there something wrong? You're ignoring me. I said to remind me to ask your mom if Kurt – "

"NO." _Stop saying that fucking name! _He was gonna drive them both off the road if she kept it up.

"Puck, really, what the hell is your problem? You've been acting strange for a while and I thought maybe if I ignored it, it would go away, but it hasn't. So please tell me what's wrong!" Quinn didn't like being left out. And Puck felt guilty whenever he lied to her, but he could _not_ bring himself to admit that he'd been having some fucking weird (he wouldn't allow his mind to say _gay_) thoughts about the queer in Glee Club.

"Nothing's fucking wrong with me, Quinn." He said, sounding defeated. "Really," he added when she didn't look convinced.

Quinn still wasn't buying it. Damn, she was too observant for her own good.

"Whatever Puck, I don't know why you feel like you have to lie to me. Maybe talking about whatever it is could make it better, did you ever think of that? And honestly, who else do you have to talk to besides me?"

The girl had a point, but Puck still wasn't giving in.

"Just drop it, okay? God!"

By this time, Puck was pulling up to his house. He stopped along the curb and didn't attempt to get out as Quinn opened her door and swung her legs around.

"Are you planning on getting out of the damn truck?" Quinn asked with the venom that Puck knew he deserved. He felt like a total, worthless douche bag. What he was about to do didn't make him feel any better, either.

"No. I'm going out." He had to keep trying to burn Hummel out of his mind; he knew no other way of doing that than what he was planning to do.

Quinn looked so hurt and pissed that Puck almost decided against what he was setting up in his mind. The one thing he hated more than the fucking crazy visions he kept having of Hummel was seeing Quinn in pain, especially when he was the one that caused it. Which was most of the time.

The venom in the girl's words before was nothing compared to what came out of Quinn's mouth now.

"Where to, _Santana's_?" She spit the words out of her mouth like they were toxic. He knew how she felt about him and Santana having anything to do with each other. But he needed a distraction and Quinn wasn't about to stop him from getting it. So he kept on, even though he knew he was hurting the fragile girl more and more every time he spoke.

"What's it to you if I am?" Puck screamed at the small blonde girl to his right. He hadn't meant to scream, really he hadn't. But it was too late to take it back now.

Quinn was wounded, Puck could see. He wanted to hug her and kiss her forehead and apologize over and over again because she didn't deserve this. He was the one with issues, he didn't need to take his frustration over Hummel out on Quinn. But Quinn had been right about one thing: she was all he had. Puck had no emotional attachment to anyone else except his sister and mom (and they didn't count) so she was the only target he had to vent out his emotions. It wasn't right and it definitely wasn't fair to Quinn, but he couldn't seem to stop hurting her, not even for a little bit.

The injured girl, looking as fragile as the jock had ever seen her, didn't reply. She just grabbed at her flowery purse and stepped out of the truck, closing the door as quietly as she could. This was her saying she was giving up.

Puck knew that he should feel absolutely awful and that eventually he would. He'd want to gouge his face off and set himself on fire and be eaten by goats all at once for what he did to the woman carrying his child.

Puck put the car back in drive and sped away from his house and the broken girl walking in the door.

Yeah, he knew he'd feel the repercussions of what he was doing later. Right now he just needed to feel like a man again.

* * *

**A/N: So I've decided that I sorta like tortured Puck. I may keep him around a while ;)**

**Also, Kurt calls himself pretty in Part One of 'The Walk'. I almost omitted that part because I know he has issues with his self esteem. But then I figured that Kurt really is the type to think of himself as pretty, esteem issues or not. What do you think? Hmm, interesting… **

**Let me know what you thought about the chapter! Thanks for reading :)**


	5. Hey, Soul Sister

**Disclaimer: I sooooo don't own Glee.**

**A/N: Thank you to everyone who has reviewed, favorited, or alerted this story! It really makes me feel good about writing. I love doing it, but the motivation given to me just makes it that much more loveable! :)**

**Okay, so I've decided that I'm disregarding Jesse St. James completely. While I do love him and think that Jonathan Groff is completely gorgeous, his presence in the story would throw things off. I need Rachel to be with Finn. Sorry to anyone this may upset! **

**I'm really hoping this chapter helps to move the story along, as well as the next one. This one puts a lot of focus on Kurt and Quinn's relationship. It's really long and gets pretty heavy and emotional and it may be a little confusing, I don't know, but everything will be explained in due time, my sweets. Enjoy the newest chapter! **

* * *

_Hey soul sister,  
ain't that Mr. Mister on the radio,  
stereo, the way you move ain't fair you know__!  
Hey soul sister,  
I don't wanna miss a single thing you do tonight._

"Hey, Soul Sister" by Train

* * *

For the first half of the two weeks they had to prepare their duet, Kurt decided that in order to properly manage his time and lifestyle, he needed to equally split his time between school, moisturizing, planning with Quinn and trying to avoid Puck. Of course, Kurt hadn't been counting on avoiding Puck being as hard as it was. He should have realized when he'd pulled Quinn's name out of the hat that it was God's way of playing a cruel joke on him.

Kurt realized how stupid he'd been after looking back on their discussion about where to hold their first practice. He hadn't thought to ask where Quinn lived when she suggested he come over to her place. When the singer got a text from the former cheerleader on Monday after school he took it all in stride, not thinking it was important to ask about just who exactly her house mates were. You see, Kurt Hummel had stopped caring about what happened in Quinn Fabray's life right after she'd seen fit to torture Finn. All he'd cared about was that she got kicked out of his crush's house, making the quarterback more available for Kurt. Where Quinn lived had no relevance in his life anymore.

So when Monday evening arrived and Kurt Hummel showed up at the house that his GPS had directed him to, he nearly crapped his Chanel pants when Noah Puckerman was on the other side of the bell he rang.

Upon seeing who he was answering the door for, Puck moved to the side, grunted something that sounded like "Upstairs" and slammed the door shut after Kurt walked in. The jock looked as aggressive as ever with his arms crossed in that defensive way of his. Kurt was still at a loss as to why Puck was being so hostile to him, but he'd take that over getting beaten up any day – not that he had completely ruled that out as never happening yet.

As he was walking up the stairs, Kurt quickly took in his surroundings. Believe it or not, it seemed like a completely _normal_ house. It surprised him that someone like Puck lived here. In what Kurt assumed was the living room, Puck, a young girl – Puck's sister? – and what appeared to be Puck's mom were seated around the television. The only person really paying attention to the screen seemed to be the older lady who also had tissues with which she was swiping away a stray tear.

Kurt realized that he had no clue where to go when he reached the top of the stairs. He flat out refused to look like an idiot by going back down the stairs and asking Puck which was Quinn's room but he also didn't want to feel like a snoop by opening all the doors.

In a quiet voice he called out, "Um, Quinn?" There was no response.

_Okay, no such luck. Just go around and knock on each door; use process of elimination. _

The well groomed teen felt like a total moron after knocking softly on the first two doors with no answer. He was considering running out of the house, jumping into his baby and getting away from this house forever when the third door he was knocking on was opened by Quinn Fabray.

"Oh thank God," Kurt said as he walked past the blonde and threw himself on the bed in the middle of the room. He didn't care if Quinn was still sort of an acquaintance and he was sitting on her bed uninvited, right now he just wanted to lie down and close his eyes. If there was one thing Kurt Hummel hated, it was feeling embarrassed.

Quinn just giggled at the tousled looking boy sprawled across her bed. A Kurt that wasn't absolutely pristine wasn't a sight she was used to seeing.

"Everything alright, Kurt? You seem a little, ah, upset." The girl said, silently sniggering the whole time.

Quickly, Kurt sat up and glared at Quinn who was still standing in the door frame.

"You didn't tell me you lived with Puck!" The boy said, his quiet words filled with heat. The pregnant girl sobered up a little bit at being attacked and crossed her arms defensively.

"You didn't ask. And besides why does it matter?" Quinn asked.

At the question, Kurt's features looked incredulous, "Why does it matter? _Why does it matter?_ It matters because he is the jerk who always throws me in dumpsters and who I'm pretty sure is planning a surprise attack in which he's going to _murder_ me! It matters because when he opened the door downstairs, I almost had a freaking heart attack and if I would have fallen to the floor, I would have gotten some of my best clothes dirty! That, Quinn, is why it matters!" Kurt's already high pitched voice was reaching a point where soon, only dogs would hear it and the singer realized he was on the verge of becoming hysterical again.

_You've gotten everything out – now just calm down._ Kurt thought and he started forcing himself to take deep, soothing breaths.

Quinn closed the door and walked over to the edge of the bed, interrupting Kurt's meditating with her small voice, "I'm sorry I didn't warn you that I lived with Noah; I guess I didn't think about how it might affect you…" The girl instinctively put her hands on her large belly as if it comforted her. She then sat down next to the small boy, taking his hand in hers and placing it on the bulge as a peace offering. It was such an intimate gesture, Kurt didn't know how to react.

It was quiet for a minute or two while Quinn moved Kurt's hand around her stomach to places where he could feel the baby moving inside. The brunette knew that, as much of a diva as he was, this miracle had put him in his place. He was in awe of the baby alive inside the girl sitting beside him.

The spell of silence was broken by the voice of the soon to be mother. She sounded at peace but Kurt could still hear tears laced through her voice, "You know his mom won't even let me eat bacon? That's my favorite food. What if my baby doesn't like bacon because she never got to try it while she was inside of me? Living here has been… insane," Quinn said, shaking her head as if trying to get rid of unwanted thoughts.

When she brought her head up, you could see the tears running down her face.

"I don't want you to think I'm ungrateful. I owe so much to Noah and his mom for taking me in after what happened with Finn," Quinn's voice broke when she said her ex-boyfriend's name but she kept talking despite the fact that she was upset, "I just sometimes think about how things might have been if nobody had ever found out about Puck being the father."

Kurt should have hated the girl for wanting to go back to a time when she was lying to Finn, but seeing her in the state she was in canceled out any harsh feelings he may have once felt. This was a girl who was truly hurting. She'd gone through so much that a girl shouldn't have to worry about going through and no matter how horrible she'd been to Finn, she was still a good person. Kurt used his hand that wasn't on Quinn's pregnant belly to gently touch the girl's shoulder and he began to massage it. He heard a sigh of relief before the girl kept talking.

"You know, I still miss him all the time," There was no need to explain who _he_ was, "When I see him talking to Rachel in the halls or holding hands with her during Glee. I remember when that used to be me he would walk to class. It's like I was _so close_ to finding happiness with a really great guy and then something had to come along and screw it up."

Tears began falling at a faster pace down Quinn's face and Kurt could think of nothing to do. In a way, he understood what she was going through. He loved Finn too and wanted to be with him more than anything, but he knew that would never happen.

"And then, Noah comes along telling me he wants to care for the baby and that we'll get a house and raise it. And for a second I think maybe, just _maybe_, Puck's my second chance. He would be wonderful, too. He's gorgeous, he's got ambition, and he _really_ loves this baby! He'd definitely be a great second chance. But he doesn't love me. Noah thinks he's got me tricked, but I know that he only wants to stick around for the baby. He doesn't wanna be with me, but he would do it, I can see it in his eyes. And _God_ I love him for it! I love him so much. Kurt, it hurts so badly to see both of them every day at school and to pretend that my whole world isn't crumbling down. I love them both and it's tearing me apart. I just want to let go. I _need_ to let go, if not for my heart, then for my sanity. I have to let go of those two…"

The blonde was shaking with sobs and put her head against Kurt's tiny chest. Instinctively, Kurt's skinny arms wrapped around the crying girl and he held her while her tears stained his expensive shirt. He thought it was a testament to their growing friendship that he didn't slap her for ruining his clothes.

_I couldn't slap her if I tried. She's so sweet, so harmless. If I wasn't as gay as they come, this is the girl I would be in love with. _

Kurt's voice cracked with emotion that was coursing through his veins, but he had to say something comforting to the girl who was drenching his shirt with her tears.

"I… I know how you feel. Well, not completely. But you know as well as I do how I feel about Finn. I'm so ashamed of it too because I know that he's never going to like boys. I feel like such a masochist. It's like I set myself up for failure. Every guy I've ever had a crush on has been out of reach, but with Finn, I honestly think I let myself fall in love with him. Or the idea of him, I'm not sure which. Either way, it wasn't just some silly schoolboy crush."

The foolishness of Kurt's love for the straight, all-American, quarterback of the football team came crashing down on him. How had he been so stupid as to think that Finn could have feelings for him? Without realizing it, Kurt found that he had tears on his cheeks and that they weren't slowing down as they continued to track down his face.

"I think we both need to get over what we're never going to have," Kurt whispered into Quinn's hair, as her face was still resting on his chest.

Feeling stronger than he had in a very long time, Kurt released the hand of the blonde that he had ended up holding and gently touched her chin, bringing it up to face him. She was struggling to stop crying and replace the frown on her face with a thin, watery smile.

The brunette boy used his thumbs to wipe off the tears that were silently trailing down her pale cheeks. She was very beautiful; he was gay and even he could appreciate that. And she was fragile. She needed someone to be there for her and to help her become stronger. Right then and there, Kurt decided he would be that person for his ex-enemy.

_Because it's not just you that needs me, Quinn. We need each other. _

Kurt looked into the girl's eyes as he dropped his hand from her chin and said quietly, "Quinn, I know what song we're going to sing for the duet."

* * *

The second time the pair were scheduled to meet, Kurt decided that he would invite Quinn over to his house so that he wouldn't have to worry about coming face to face with the jerk, Puck, again. Kurt had driven her back to his place from school on Wednesday and when they arrived, the countertenor had taken her to the kitchen to eat some of the oatmeal raisin cookies he'd made the night before from his mom's old recipe.

This small gesture of friendship had been enough to set Quinn's pregnancy hormones over the edge and while they'd sat at the table with their cookies and glasses of skim milk, the blonde girl had red-rimmed, teary eyes.

It was this scene that Burt Hummel was welcomed home by and to say the least, he was a bit confused.

The whole thing had been more than a little embarrassing for both father and son. Burt had called Kurt into the hall, asking him to "Please, please, please tell me you're not the one who got that girl pregnant". Kurt had shuddered at the thought; he explained to his father that he may think Quinn is beautiful, but in the way that he thinks a perfectly designed jacket from Alexander McQueen is beautiful.

"And I do not have sex with jackets, _dad_," the teenage boy had added on, just to provide some emphasis.

After that incident, it didn't take very long for Burt to become enamored by Quinn's charm. It was nearly an hour later that Kurt was finally able to steal Quinn away from his dad and take her down to his basement bedroom.

When Kurt had explained the perfect song for their duet and then played it for the girl on his iPod on Monday night at Puck's house, Quinn had, after crying for half an hour, decided that the song was incredible and that it would be perfect for both of them and their situations.

The flamboyant teen had whole-heartedly agreed and couldn't wait to get started with the actual practicing. However, down in his bedroom, practicing seemed to be becoming a more and more distant fantasy. Every time words would start playing in the song where Quinn was supposed to begin singing, all she could do was choke out a few syllables before she began sobbing so uncontrollably that Kurt couldn't understand her.

When this had happened four times and didn't seem to be getting any better, the fashionista decided that maybe it was time for a break.

That was how it came to be that Kurt was snuggling on his bed with, not only a _girl_, but _Quinn Fabray_. It was hard to keep from laughing at the irony of the situation as he rubbed the girl's shoulders with his soft hands and she cried into his goose down pillows. It was still difficult to understand her but it became increasingly easier as the sobs died down and every now and then Kurt could pick up something about her being "all alone in the world".

Finally, the girls cries died down completely and Kurt almost thought she was asleep until he heard a voice muffled by his pillows, "You know, I'm probably never gonna lose all this freaking baby weight."

It hadn't taken Kurt long in their friendship to realize that Quinn brought up the most random things that were bothering her. Baby weight being one of them.

"And I'll have stretch marks. I'm gonna be ugly and deformed. I'll never be able to have sex because I refuse to take my clothes off for anyone after I have this baby. Nobody's gonna see me looking like a fat cow. Not that anyone is going to _want_ to have sex with me anyway because I'll be so gross."

Quinn turned herself over so she was facing the ceiling and wailed out, "Ughhhh, my life SUCKS!"

Kurt had never seen Quinn act so _real_ and, even though it was whining that was bringing out the true Quinn, he didn't want her to stop. He liked learning about his new friend and it would also help her to get all of the stuff she couldn't talk about with Puck off of her chest.

"Quinn, darling, you are going to be anything but fat, trust me. That's the upside to having a baby while you're still young, you keep your metabolism," Kurt said with a smile, glad all the same that he could never be pregnant.

But the blonde girl wasn't buying any of it.

"Bullshit! Don't you bullshit me Kurt Hummel! I will never wear size one pants again! I'm a whale of a monster, just look at me. I guess I'm glad that my first time was with Puck since I won't ever be having sex again. At least he's hot. And he was pretty good, if you know what I mean."

A pensive look settled across the blonde's face.

"At least I think he was. I don't remember too well, I was drunk on wine coolers," she said with a shrug, like she just didn't care anymore. Then Quinn just started laughing, unexplained and uncontrollably. She was laughing so hard that Kurt sat up and was starting to worry about what might happen to the baby if she kept laughing like she was.

"Um, Quinn?" The boy reached out to touch Quinn's shoulder as she was rolling around on the bed, "Are you okay? You were just crying and now… well, now you're kinda scaring me."

"I'm… sorry. Sorry, Kurt." Quinn wheezed out, trying to control her insane laughter. "There's something fucking wrong with me."

The male diva was taken aback by Quinn dropping the F-bomb – she didn't seem like the type to use it unless she was extremely pissed. He guessed he had a lot to learn about her.

Because Kurt wanted to get to know Quinn better and just because he could, the boy decided that he wanted to make Quinn feel better about losing her original size after the baby. He'd never shown anyone this except for Mercedes and that had taken a lot of time for him to gain the trust he needed. But Quinn had already opened up so much to him and he honestly felt like he could trust the former snob and Cheerio already. He _wanted_ her to see this.

_What have you got to lose? _He asked himself as he began to unbutton his top to show her the thing that scared him most in life.

"Uh, Kurt, I may be a little delusional right now, but are you taking off your shirt? Not that you're not like, attractive or anything like that, it's just… well… you're gay. And I'm clearly not a guy." Quinn looked extremely lost and a little apprehensive. Kurt almost smiled at the silly girl. Instead he continued to steadily open up his shirt before taking it off completely.

Quinn's gasp was audible.

Kurt could hear the horror fused into her voice as she spoke, "Kurt!" There was a long pause as she tried to gather her thoughts into something coherent, "What… what happened, Kurt?" she finished softly. The boy could tell that a thousand different scenarios were running through the girl's head about how his body had gotten into this state.

He didn't talk about it much. It'd taken him months to tell Mercedes. It was a forbidden topic between him and his dad because it hurt too much. No one else knew except God… And of course his mother, who, he knew, was watching over him in Heaven.

At the thought of his mother, Kurt began to question his sanity.

_What the Hell am I doing?_ He thought loudly to himself. _This is a girl I barely know and I'm about to spill my darkest secret to her!_

He had almost completely changed his mind when he looked up into Quinn's eyes and saw the look of pure concern that they held.

No, it was okay to tell Quinn about this. It may be a lot heavier than being fat after having a baby, but he felt like it was the right thing to do.

"Car crash. There was lots of fire," he said, indicating the shiny scars on his upper torso. He could feel the tears coming and tried to cover them with a smile, but that was impossible to do. Slowly but surely, the tears began to fall.

"Mom didn't make it."

"Oh, Kurt!" Quinn breathed, wrapping her arms around the broken boy and drawing him in. "I'm so sorry, I didn't know! And here I am whining about how I'm fat, like that even matters! I'm so sorry, Kurt. You have no idea how sorry I am." Now Quinn was crying just as hard as Kurt was and neither could tell whose tears were whose. Soon though, Kurt remembered his original intentions to make the blonde feel better instead of bad like he was currently doing.

"Quinn," Kurt said, his voice quiet and still cracking with emotion and tears, "it was a long time ago. I still miss her but I'm okay about losing her. It was just her time to go and be with Jesus. These scars – they represent a lot to me: loss and imperfection, but most of all, strength. If I had the strength to get through what happened to me, then I have the strength to get through anything. I know it's not an exact comparison to what you're going through but just know that you'll get through it. All wounds and _stretch marks _even, heal into something that will make you a better and stronger human being in the end."

With his speech finished, he took a deep breath and sighed. That had gone a lot smoother than it could have. He hadn't thrown or broke anything like he had when explaining to Mercedes (he'd still had a lot of pent up anger at the time). And he felt a lot better. He hadn't expected that to happen, he'd only been doing this to make _Quinn_ feel better.

Huh. Who knew?

Surprisingly, Quinn was the one to break the teary silence.

"You know Kurt, how about we practice that song?" She said with a sad, but genuine smile. Kurt took her hand and led her off the bed before pushing play on his iPod and letting the music serenade them.

_Mission accomplished._

* * *

The next day after school, the newly close friends decided to bond a little bit over something dearly loved by both parties: shopping. Kurt momentarily 'forgot' to explain to the blonde that he actually had a very good reason for this therapeutic shopping spree.

_Not that I'm thinking about it. 'Cause I'm totally not. _

The singer was desperately trying to repress what had happened when Quinn had been picked up from his house last night. He wasn't doing a very good job though, and this led to the boy being overly spastic. He succeeded in channeling all his excess energy into being excessively enthusiastic about his day. Not that he wasn't always enthusiastic about shopping and hanging out with friends, but today, he was putting on a show.

Kurt drove the pair to the mall in his baby, blasting his musical soul mate, Rihanna, loudly the whole way there. He took it upon himself to be a traditional drama queen and very loudly interpret the lyrics.

"Oh my God, Quinn, please don't stop the music!"

"I don't intend to, Kurt! Cause we're out here on the dance floor, acting naughty!" she yelled back, not missing a beat.

_Oh, Quinn Fabray, where have you been all my life? And why must you have a vagina?_

Enjoying being with the girl, Kurt almost forgot about what had happened with Puck. Or Noah. Or whatever the hell his fucking name was.

Kurt stopped thinking for a second and took a deep breath. He was starting to get agitated again and he couldn't have that.

_Think happy thoughts._

By the time the couple reached the mall, Kurt had to fix his hair in the mirror and Quinn had to reapply her lip gloss – their Rihanna singing session had been intense. They got out of the Navigator, linking arms and sashaying into the Dillard's mall entry.

"OH MY GOD! Look at these shoes!" Kurt squealed, unashamedly. "If only I didn't have man feet!" He continued, overcompensating with eagerness, holding up the strappiest pair of black leather high heeled shoes Quinn thought she had ever seen.

"You have to try them on! Please, just indulge me!" The fashionista whined to the girl who was looking around to see if anyone had noticed the scene Kurt was making. She'd never been shopping with anyone as…_ enthusiastic _about shopping as Kurt was. It would have been very refreshing if it hadn't been so scary.

Finally, Quinn gave in and tried on the shoes, really enjoying the way they looked on her small feet, but not enjoying the price tag that came along with it. When the girl had tried to tell Kurt that they were a little out of her price range, he would have none of it.

"Think of it as an early Christmas present," the diva said as he whipped out his credit card and placed it on the counter along with the shoes.

The rest of the afternoon passed in a haze of clothes, shoes and accessories. After forcing Quinn to try on _every _single article of clothing in Juicy Couture (despite her pregnant belly) and trying on a few himself, Kurt suggested that the pair head to the food court and get some refreshments before they continue in their hunt for the best bombshell outfit for Quinn.

'A girl has to look good after they pop a baby out of their belly, after all.' Kurt hadn't hesitated to tell the pregnant teenager as he picked out some ridiculously tiny clothes for her to look at.

The bag laden friends lugged their purchases to a table and took turns between watching the goods and ordering smoothies from Jamba Juice. Kurt went first because he really needed to up his sugar levels if he was going to continue to be Overly-Zealous-Kurt today.

The diva moaned as he sat at the table with Quinn and slurped down his strawberry and banana smoothie; nothing tasted better than his comfort food, especially when he was drinking it while in a mall. One thing was for sure, Kurt Hummel definitely knew how to make himself feel better after a rough night.

"Kurt, I don't want to pry or anything…" Quinn's voice sounded as Kurt was blissed out by his smoothie, dragging him back to reality. It took his boggled mind a moment to register that he wasn't drowning in smoothie like he'd been daydreaming about.

Kurt really didn't want to talk about what he knew was coming. The whole point of repressing something was to not think about it! It seemed, however, that he was failing miserably at doing just that.

"But you seemed pretty upset last night when Noah picked me up. But now you seem really… scarily happy," she said with a smile on her face, showing she meant no harm by calling him scary, "Do you wanna talk about it?" Quinn seemed really unsure about probing but at the same time, Kurt caught something in her eyes that looked suspiciously like scheming. If the boy hadn't been really paying attention, it would have gone unnoticed; but now that he was thinking about it, the devious look had been present the entire time they'd been shopping.

Kurt imperceptibly narrowed his eyes and cautiously took another sip of his smoothie. What was going on here?

"I'm fine, Quinn. I was thrown off last night, that's all. I didn't expect Puck to see me… like that." Kurt said with a grimace. "But I don't blame him."

That was a lie. Kurt totally blamed him, however unfairly. It _was_ Puck after all; everything bad should be blamed on him.

"Oh. Yeah. I totally understand." Quinn said, taking an extended drink of her smoothie, the gleam in her eye becoming a little more noticeable. Kurt became hyper-aware of the suspicious looking blonde.

"So you don't think Noah's a horrible person?"

Where was this coming from?

"Oh no, I definitely still think he's a horrible person," Quinn's face fell a little as he said this and the male diva decided to milk it in order to see how the girl would react. "I hate Puck more than I hate the color orange. And let me tell you, that is a lot. Whoever discovered orange needs to be shot at least ten times."

What he was saying wasn't a lie, although it may have been a little bit exaggerated. Kurt didn't necessarily _hate_ Puck, he just severely disliked the huge asshole of a jock.

Quinn took on a very thoughtful look that Kurt didn't like very much. He continued to drink his smoothie, glad that he'd ordered a large so he wouldn't run out very quickly. He needed something to occupy him if awkward questions were going to continue coming from Quinn, which they did.

"How would you react if Noah started acting like a decent human being to you? What I mean is," Quinn said, brushing a piece of hair out of her face, "do you think you could ever forgive him for being such a jackass?"

Whatever the boy had thought was going to come out of Quinn's mouth, that had definitely not been it. The idea that Puck could ever be even slightly civil to the boy he deemed a 'fucking faggot' was preposterous.

"Well considering that it's never going to happen and if it _did_, it would throw off the balance of the universe, I would probably self destruct and my head would explode."

Kurt smiled at the puzzling girl in front of him. He figured the best way to regard Quinn's weird questions was with sarcasm. Actually that was the best way to deal with anything involving Noah "Puck" Puckerman. You never wanted how you were truly feeling to show.

Because believe it or not, Kurt actually _felt_ quite a lot on the subject of Puck, he just flat out refused to let it show. He felt frightened and vulnerable (though no one would ever know that because his ice-cold, bitch routine was just _that_ good). He felt superior and bitter. Just recently, he'd come to feel pity and confusion. And even a little bit of – could he think it without gagging? – attraction.

Kurt outwardly shuddered and took a huge drag on his smoothie like he was a smoker getting his nicotine fix.

The brunette singer couldn't help it that he found Puck sexually attractive. There was everything about him that was unquestionably sexy. Puck radiated sex appeal. So yes, Kurt loathed the jock and wanted to punch him in the throat every time he saw him walking down the hall, but there was no denying the fact that he was smokin' hot. As sick to the stomach as that made him feel.

Kurt couldn't figure out why, but what he'd said seemed to make Quinn a little bit annoyed, though she was trying to hide it. He didn't want his new friend to be angry at him, so he decided to throw her a bone.

"If I was ever going to forgive Puck, he would have to be willing to beg and grovel at my feet. Then I might _consider_ not being a total bitch to him."

There. That was as nice as Kurt was going to get when it came to Puck.

"Hmm. Understandable." The girl shrugged her small shoulders and nodded her head, looking thoughtful as she chewed on her straw. A silence ensued that made Kurt feel awkward. It took him several seconds to realize that he had drunk all the strawberry-banana goodness and was now just managing to make slurping noises; it was definitely time to get back to shopping.

"Okay, lady, it's time to stop talking about losers and get you some sexy clothes. You're gonna need 'em when you meet Mr. Right," the countertenor said with a Cheshire cat grin on his delicate face as he dragged the blonde girl up towards the nearest store, intending to spend lots of his daddy's money.

* * *

Kurt woke up rubbing his eyes on Saturday morning, exceedingly groggy. The evening before he had convinced his dad to let Quinn stay the night ("Honestly dad, I do not find boobs attractive, nothing is going to happen!") and they had stayed up until two in the morning practicing their duet and talking fashion and boys.

The sleepy boy looked over to see that Quinn was still dead to the world on the other side of his king sized mattress. He rolled out of bed, glad that Quinn was still out because he didn't feel like talking. As he turned on the hot water of his shower and stepped in under the pressure, his thoughts drifted back to the conversation of the previous night…

"_So what do you like when it comes to guys?" Quinn asked excitedly, the scheming gleam in her eye having never left since the day they'd gone shopping. "I mean, I've never had a gay friend before. I've always wondered what it'd be like to have one…" The girl seemed to realize that what she was saying might be offensive and trailed off a bit, "I'm… I'm just curious…"_

_Kurt knew better than to be offended. He was gay and he fully embraced that, it was okay if Quinn was interested. The guilty look on the girl's face made the small boy chuckle._

"_It's okay Quinn, I promise!" He said, playfully smacking his friend's arm, causing her to smile. "You know, I'm not completely positive _what_ I find attractive in guys. I would like to say that I like them tall, dark and handsome, but the boy I'm freaking in love with only meets the tall criterion… I honestly don't know _why_ I'm so hooked on Finn. Quite frankly, he's an idiot and is only averagely attractive..." _

_He stopped talking mid-thought. The more he considered it, the more Kurt just couldn't pin down a reason why he liked Finn so much. It was crazy; he'd spend so many hours of his life mooning over the boy and he couldn't even come up with a single reason why! _

"_Wow. I think I just got over Finn Hudson."_

_And all of a sudden, that statement was so, painstakingly true. Try as he might, Kurt couldn't find it in himself to love his long time crush anymore. What really shocked him was how much it hurt. He'd been so head over heels for Finn his entire high school career that he was lost now that Finn didn't hold that appeal for him. _

"_Oh my gosh! I'm so happy for you!" Quinn lunged across the bed and wrapped Kurt into a hug. "You know what this means, don't you? It means we have to find you a new guy! Preferably a gay guy this time!"_

_Kurt pushed away the hurt he was feeling; Quinn was so excited and he didn't want to ruin the moment._

_He allowed himself to laugh lightly, "And where in the world am I supposed to find one of those in Lima, Ohio?" _

"_Oh, I don't know. We'll just have to look really hard. So now that you're over Finn, who do you think is the hottest guy in school?"_

Huh. Who _did_ I think the hottest guy in school was?

"_Personally, I think it's Puck. I mean, come on! He's freaking hot! We may have our issues with each other, but there's no denying the fact that he's gorgeous. Noah freaking Puckerman…"_

A pink flush found its way to Kurt's cheeks. Thinking of Puck while he was in the shower made his downstairs appendage a little too excited.

He didn't _want_ to be thinking about Puck at all, but lately it seemed that he couldn't _not_ think about the jock. Quinn was bringing him up literally _all the time_ and the manic look in her eyes had yet to go away. Kurt really just wanted to figure out what she was up to but he could never find her angle.

The now squeaky clean boy shut the water off and stepped out of the shower, toweling himself off. He figured he'd better go face the sleeping girl on his bed even if she was probably going to bombard him with images of Puck. After he got dressed, he woke Quinn and went upstairs to make pancakes. They were going to need their energy if they were going to perfect their duet and make it better than Rachel's.

* * *

Later that evening, Kurt found himself driving his baby to Puck's house for the second time that week. He had done everything except beg Quinn to let them have practice at his house but the blonde had been unrelenting, insisting she'd intruded in his house for the entire week and Burt was probably getting tired of seeing her around.

In the end, Kurt had agreed to spend the evening at Puck's on the condition that the jock himself wasn't going to be there.

"Uh, yeah, I'm pretty sure he'll be at, uh, Santana's or Finn's or something like that," the pregnant girl had replied, not quite meeting his eye.

Still, what choice did he have? He wanted to make his duet perfect and in order for that to happen, they needed to get in as much practice as possible.

The brunette reached Puck's house and made sure to lock his baby up tight before strutting to and knocking on the front door of the house.

Kurt couldn't say he was exactly _surprised_ when it was Puck who answered the door. He knew Quinn was up to something (though he wasn't sure what) and her lie about him being at Santana's had not been a convincing one. But he definitely wasn't happy about it.

"Puckerman." The diva said, hand on hip, best bitch face on that he could muster.

"Hummel." Puck replied back, averting his eyes from the smaller boy's.

Without looking back, Kurt rushed through the door, inadvertently shaking his hips a bit more than necessary. As he made his way up the stairs, he was sure he felt a pair of eyes on his figure, though he wasn't going to look back to find out. This time, Kurt was able to confidently find his way to Quinn's room and didn't even bother knocking as he opened the door and walked in.

Kurt couldn't help but smile when he saw the deer in headlights look on Quinn's face – she knew she'd been caught in her lie.

"Lying bitch," the boy joked as he closed the door. Being upset with Quinn wasn't an option when she looked at you with that smiling, guilty face of hers. "I'll get you back for this, you know I will."

Quinn just laughed as she hopped off the bed and stole Kurt's iPod that he had just pulled out of his bag.

"Let's get practicing, baby face."

Kurt took a few seconds to marvel at how close he'd gotten with Quinn in such a short period of time. They were able to laugh and joke and blow anything too serious off. He reveled in the fact that even though he knew she had something up her sleeve that she was planning, he still trusted her to be his friend. Kurt loved Mercedes and she would always be one of his closest friends, but he just felt a really special bond when it came to Quinn. Silently, Kurt thanked Mr. Schuester for assigning this project and fate for allowing this crazy, pregnant girl to be his partner.

The brunette found the song on his iPod and pushed play, letting the music wash over both of them. They would practice a few times with the words and then they would switch to an instrumental CD he had made.

By the time the pair had been practicing for two hours, they were disheveled and a little bit sick of listening to their duet song over and over again. It was coming along very nicely and Kurt was hopeful that out of all the duets, theirs would have the most meaning and be the best.

_At least better than Berry's. I will shoot myself if she beats me. Again._

"Hey Kurt, you wanna freestyle it up a bit?" Quinn asked unexpectedly.

Singing something other than what they'd been at for two hours _did_ sound incredibly appealing…

"Yeah, sure. What'd you have in mind?"

"I dunno. We'll decide after I go downstairs and get us some water. Be back in a sec," the blonde said and she whisked out of the room.

Kurt felt a little awkward sitting in Quinn's room alone. Quinn's room was in Puck's house so he wasn't just alone in her room; he was alone in the _house of the jerk who'd picked on him for forever_.

He looked out of the only window in the room and saw that the sun had started going down already. His dad was probably still out with Carole. Kurt would have to head home soon, before it got too late, but he still had time to jam out a little bit with Quinn.

As if on cue, the countertenor heard the door open and turned around from the window expecting to be handed a bottle of water. Kurt was taken aback when he saw Quinn dragging an _extremely_ pissed off Noah Puckerman through the door along with his guitar.

If Kurt's wide eyes weren't a dead giveaway that he was completely shocked, confused and a little bit angry then the strangled noises currently coming from his throat definitely would be.

"Uh… water?" was all Kurt could manage to say, besides the odd squeal that forced itself out. He couldn't lie and say he wasn't scared. Being in a room with Puck when he looked that mad could never be a good idea.

"Oh, uh, I must've forgotten!" The blonde replied with an all too innocent smile, "But I thought that we could use Puck's guitar skills while we're singing."

Not wanting to upset Puck anymore, but not wanting to be in a close proximity with him either, Kurt said quietly, "We could have just used my iPod."

Shocking both Kurt and Quinn, Puck jumped in, saying, "Yeah, you could've just used his iPod, _Quinn_."

It wasn't that Puck agreed with Kurt that surprised the brunette the most, though that definitely did surprise him – it was how small and desperate his voiced sounded, completely contrasting with the angry features on his face.

The only girl in the room looked harrassed as she tried to grasp for words in order to form a comeback.

"Well… I just thought… Well, I mean… We're not using the damn iPod, okay?"

Puck may be frightening, but Quinn when she put her foot down was a force to be reckoned with and Kurt knew it was time to give up the arguing as a bad job. Sighing in frustration and superiority, Kurt sat himself on the girl's bed and crossed his legs and arms, looking like the poster child for bitchiness with his nose in the air.

"Anyway… I've got to, um, go to the bathroom. Or something."

Kurt heard rather than saw Quinn leave the room and close the door behind her, leaving the two boys by themselves. The tension that had already been in the closed space increased tenfold as soon as she was gone and the smaller boy couldn't believe how incredibly uncomfortable he felt being alone with Puck. But however awkward it was, Kurt refused to break the silence. Talking to the jock would make this awful situation worse and he would probably get punched in the face for 'infecting Puckzilla's personal space with queer' or some shit like that.

So it wasn't Kurt Hummel that spoke after a few moments of an uncomfortable silence.

"So… What uh… What song are, uh, you guys gonna sing, or whatever?"

Puck's unintelligible babble caught Kurt off guard. He raised his eyebrow and brought his eyes to look into the other boys. The jock had that same tortured look that Kurt had seen before but he also still looked angry. The two emotions were fighting a battle for dominance and Kurt didn't know how to interpret anything that was happening right now. He _did_ know that he didn't want forced conversation to happen between the two of them because it would probably only make him feel worse about himself.

"You know, Puck, you don't have to talk to me. We can sit here and you can ignore me like you always do until Quinn gets back," the small boy said, tearing his eyes away from Puck's and down to his immaculate fingernails. It seemed that Kurt had stunned his enemy into silence because for the next few minutes, it was completely quiet. The hush around them was anything but peaceful, though. It was filled with an electrical charge that Kurt couldn't explain and made him severely uncomfortable.

Once again, it was Puck who broke through the charged air and spoke, "Hummel, why did you throw that smoothie on me?" His voice still had a desperate twinge to it and that was probably the straw that broke the camel's back.

_Why_? _Why_ had he thrown the smoothie? Was Puck really that amazingly _stupid_? Kurt felt no compassion for the desperate boy standing in front of him, no matter how pitiful he sounded.

"Well I would have thought that much was obvious," Kurt said, bitch mode fully turned on. Puck was about to get a bite out of the biggest bitch around. The smaller boy looked at the mohawked teen like he was a fool and kept speaking coldly, "Because you were defenseless and I was sick and fucking tired of you throwing me into dumpsters and shoving me into lockers and calling me a queer!"

At this, the petite brunette stood up and took a few meaningful steps forward until he knew he was making Puck uncomfortable.

_Good. Serves him fucking right._

"I'm gay, Puck. I know it. I embrace it. I am aware that it makes me different and maybe that scares you and your pathetically closed minded friends. But I am so much more than that and I have so much going for me. So yes. I. Am. Gay. But that's all people like _you_ see me for."

For good measure, Kurt poked Puck in his chest to emphasize '_you_' and then turned on heel and walked to the door, intending to leave. Quinn was taking way too long to actually be in the bathroom and whatever her deal was, he was not digging it. But before he could even touch the door knob, the door burst open and Quinn stood, holding a water bottle with a nervous smile that looked more like a grimace on her face. The look clearly said that the girl had been listening. He didn't know for how long, but apparently she had heard his part of the conversation.

Seeing the girl made another, better idea pop into his head. He wasn't going to leave. He was going to really let Puck know what was on his mind and rip him a new one at the same time. Mr. Schuester always said that singing was the best way to get your emotions out.

"You know what, Quinn? I have a song that I think we should sing. It will not be necessary for you to play, Puck. Sing along if you know the song, Quinn."

The catty teen knew that even if Quinn did recognize the song, she wouldn't sing along. Oh well. This was his time to shine. He searched through his list of artists before he found the one he was looking for and pressed play on the best song ever written.

_Look inside  
Look inside your tiny mind  
Now look a bit harder  
Cause we're so uninspired,  
so sick and tired  
of all the hatred you harbor._Kurt could see recognition in the form of alarm arrive on Quinn's face – she knew what was coming and she knew it wasn't going to be pretty. He relished in this.

_So you say_  
_It's not okay to be gay_

The brunette looked pointedly at the confused looking jock a few feet away.

_Well I think you're just evil  
You're just some racist who can't tie my laces  
Your point of view is medieval_

This was it. What he wanted to tell Puck so much that it hurt. God, he couldn't wait to see the arrogant jerk's face.

_Fuck you, fuck you_  
_Fuck you very, very much_  
_Cause we hate what you do_  
_And we hate your whole crew_  
_So please don't stay in touch_

_Fuck you, fuck you_  
_Fuck you very, very much_

Kurt decided right then and there, it was worth it if he were to get beat up because of the priceless look on Puck's face when it registered what he was hearing.

_Cause your words don't translate  
And it's getting quite late  
So please don't stay in touch_

_Do you get_  
_Do you get a little kick out of being small minded?_  
_You want to be like your father_

At this lyric, Kurt could see both Puck and Quinn tense up, but they were for different reasons. Quinn looked scared and her eyes darted over to Puck as if to see how he reacted. The football player himself dropped any emotion his face may have held. Kurt was glad that he hopefully struck a nerve.

_It's approval you're after  
Well that's not how you find it_

_Do you_  
_Do you really enjoy living a life that's so hateful?_  
_Cause there's a hole where your soul should be_  
_Your losing control of it and it's really distasteful_

Puck started moving towards Kurt and the small singer didn't know why, but he didn't quit singing. He wasn't about to give that loser the roughly threw out his hand and grabbed the singing iPod, shoving his thumb into the pause button before throwing it down on the bed behind them. It happened in a matter of seconds and Kurt really didn't have time to react.

_Fuck you, fuck you_  
_Fuck you very, very much_

"I know you want to, Hummel, but I'm not a fucking queer like you."

With that, Puck walked out the door. Both people still in the room were frozen until they heard the front door slam from downstairs and knew that the half-back had left the house.

The hurt really sank in then and a sob ached through Kurt's chest as he stood, crumbling, in the middle of the room. His plan had backfired. His mind had stopped working properly. The diva honestly had no clue what to do now. And he didn't know why Puck's remarks had wounded him so deeply this time – it wasn't like him being called a queer was something new.

As the dry sobs continued, Quinn rushed over to her friend, wrapping him up in her arms and leading him to sit on the bed.

This just wasn't right! Singing had been supposed to make it better, but now he felt lower than low. How did Puck have this control over him? Never once in his life had he actually broken down because of anything the jock had thrown at him but now here he was, almost crying and being held and comforted by Quinn Fabray.

This was definitely not how things were supposed to happen. Kurt was not supposed to be held by Quinn as they both had tears running down their faces. And he was not supposed to be torn apart by that bastard Noah Puckerman. But it seemed that the world had turned upside down and nothing, absolutely nothing, was going to turn out right.

* * *

**A/N: Just to clarify, this all took place over the time span of a week! I know there's a lot of Quinn but I really like her and she's important to the story. Next chapter should be about Puck and will explain things that weren't explained in this chapter.**

**The song that Kurt sings is "Fuck You" by Lily Allen. I thought it fit the situation pretty darn well.**

**Definitely let me know what you think. Was it too wordy? Boring? Did you like it? Did you hate it? I won't know unless you tell me! :)**


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